3 dead in NC as result of Matthew, McCrory says

Conditions along the North Carolina coast have rapidly deteriorated as Hurricane Matthew works its way northeast of Charleston.

WCNC2:29 PM. EST October 08, 2016

John Tweedy wades into the swift-moving floodwater surrounding his business as he inspects damage in the wake of Hurricane Matthew on October 8, 2016 in McClellanville, South Carolina.(Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images) (Photo: Brian Blanco/Getty Images)

RALEIGH, N.C. – At least three people in North Carolina have died as Hurricane Matthew dumped copious amounts of rain on the state, Pat McCrory said Saturday.

McCrory made the announcement during a 2:30 p.m. press conference updating conditions in the eastern part of the state, where areas around Fayetteville have received as much as 10 inches of rain since midnight Sunday.

“This is a deadly storm,” McCrory said. “So far in North Carolina I’m sad to report, we’ve had three fatalities in North Carolina from this hurricane. One in Sampson County hydroplaned, and we lost two people in Bladen County in a submerged vehicle.”

The Governor urged people from Raleigh east to stay where they are and to avoid the roads at all costs.

“I need to wake everyone up here, there are already conditions here in Raleigh which the roads are closed at this point in time,” McCrory said.

McCrory said he’s spoken to the mayor of Fayetteville, as multiple roads have been closed due to standing water.

“We’re having to send more barricades to close more roads,” McCrory said. “Just don’t get in your car.”

As of 2:30 p.m., Duke Energy reported over 200,000 customers without power across the state, with the majority of outages occurring in counties adjacent to I-95 and east.

According to the Governor, 59 shelters are open in 23 counties across North Carolina, as almost 1,000 people are seeking shelter.

“We have not reached the peak yet, it will probably start slowing down around midnight in the central part of the state,” McCrory explained. “I believe that some of the people there, not the leaders, but some of the people say ‘well, it’s not that bad.’ This storm went inland, much of the scattered storm went west, and as a result of that, there’s a lot more scattered-but-intense rain that’s doing some major flooding.”

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